By Craig Smith

A METHIL woman has warned that the actions of mindless motorists who have been using her street as a race track could end up killing someone.

Jeannie Stoddart was woken up by neighbours in the early hours of Saturday morning to learn that her parked vehicle had been hit head-on by a speeding car outside her home in Herriot Crescent.

Such was the force of the collision, her Vauxhall Zafira was pushed back two car lengths and mounted the pavement before the three youths in the other car, which is understood to be a Renault, ran from the scene.

Mrs Stoddart said residents had had enough of drivers careering down the street and has called on authorities to take action.

“We need to highlight this ongoing problem before someone in the street gets killed,” she told The Courier.

“We live in a fairly quiet street in Methil yet it has turned to mayhem—all because people are using our street as a speedway. Apparently this car had come hurtling down the street and had whacked into my car—it’s not exactly a small car, it’s a people carrier, so to move it two car lengths suggests that they were going at some speed.

“We are the only street in the area with no speedbumps and we would like Fife Council to address the ongoing problem and stop motorists and taxi drivers using it as a shortcut and putting their foot down.”

Mrs Stoddart said youths on motorbikes and mini-motos could be regularly seen using the road around a circular area of grass in the middle of Herriot Crescent as a race track.

“Many of them do not wear a helmet and I’ve even seen them with a black and white flag out there,” she said. “We don’t just want speed bumps in the street but we’d also like to see something done in the middle of Herriot Crescent to stop them using that grass circle.”

Herriot Crescent runs between Den Walk and Kirkland Road, although the latter two streets have been the subject of speed restrictions.

Iain Smith, council transport services lead officer, confirmed that Herriot Crescent has been earmarked for speed cushions but admitted that financial constraints had so far delayed their introduction.

“While all the main link roads within the residential 20mph zones across central area have traffic calming measures, some of the minor roads leading off them currently do not,” he said.

“These minor roads, however, still are covered by the mandatory 20mph speed limit which together with the traffic calming has helped cut the number of drivers travelling above 25mph by two thirds.

“Herriot Crescent is on the list for additional speed cushions within existing 20mph zones but how soon they can be provided does depend on the available budget—the requests are prioritised but hopefully it will not be too long before the legal process needed to bring in speed cushions on Herriot Crescent can be actioned.”

A Fife police spokeswoman said, “An 18-year-old male has been interviewed in relation to the incident but inquiries are ongoing.”